A Beautiful Mind

Hrithik Roshan is essaying the most challenging role of his career in the biopic of ‘Super 30’ founder Anand Kumar. His new look has been appreciated not just by fans but by Kumar himself, who has found an ‘uncanny resemblance’ to his own appearance in his youth.

A Bucket Head in the List

Throwing on a leather jacket and boots, Madhuri Dixit is all set to ride into her first Marathi film. She’s been shooting 12 hours daily for Bucket List, a slice-of-life film in which she plays a homemaker. We wish her all the best, and wonder if she’ll be taking that motorcycle for a drive on the Great Wall of China with Morgan Freeman and Jack ­Nicholson.

Blue Eyes And Love Nights

Salman Khan’s new “girl” has arrived by tweet from a world of chocolate. Half-Iraqi, half-Afghan War­ina Hussain, a graduate of the New York Film Academy and best known for a Dairy Milk ad, will star opposite Salman’s brother-in-law Aayush Sharma in Loveratri. Salman’s tweet that he’d found a “girl” sparked rumours about the inevitable: his wedding.

Enlightenment On Air

To be clear, the actor is the one on the right. Kranti Prakash Jha will play Baba Ramdev in an 85-­episode biographical series Swami Ramdev: Ek Sangharsh. Ramdev claims to have shared all his life’s truths and was ­prepared to face any resulting sangharsh (struggle). The writers have worked very hard to get it right—their own Bhagirath prayas, perhaps.

Another Tottering Domino?

Recently accused of sexually assaulting his 18-year-old cousin in Shimla 47 years ago, actor Jeetendra is certainly under scrutiny in these #MeToo times. For his part, he’s denied any wrongdoing through his lawyer, who called the accusations “fabricated”.

Committed to Mystery

“I was in a very committed relationship. But for almost a year, I’ve been single,” said Priya­nka Chopra in an interview with Filmfare. She named no names, confirmed that she’d dated an American and was waiting for her “mind to explode”.

This Too Happened

With the upcoming season of Game of Thrones expected to be the last, the creators of one pop culture sensation are moving on to another. David Benioff and D.B. Weiss will be piloting a new Star Wars trilogy as writers and producers, after having earlier been linked to HBO’s much-criticised Confederate.

If there was a couple encased in classiness at the Laureus Sports Awards in Monaco, France, it was wrestler Vinesh Phogat (up for the World Come­back Award, along with Tiger Woods and others) and husband Somvir Rat­­hee. Winner of the Sport for Good gong? Jharkhand-based NGO Yuwa.

Whether the world premiere of Gully Boy at the Berlin Film Festival reiterates Bollywood’s hold more than it indicates the Berlinale’s decline is another matter, but the irrepressible Ranveer was in character as his goofy rapper: shockingly meretricious tuxedo, blown-up hair, machine-gunning away to everyone’s delight. Beside him Alia was a soothing balancing act, her silkily trailing train a rival to that of a British princess on her wedding day.

Anil Kapoor almost did the Ram Lakhan tapori jig when Slumdog Millionaire won the Oscars—but a lashing from dear wife the night before held back his legs. What stopped him from doing one at the #Slum-dogTenYears event, we don’t know. Perhaps the sobering presence of Gulzar saab and Rahman. Anyway, Jai Ho!